Timeline: Mary Bates: The Craxford Family Genealogy Magazine

Abt 1755 - 1777 (~ 22 years)

	Date	Event(s)
1	1755	1755: Publication of "Dictionary of the English Language" by Dr Samuel Johnson 1755: Period of canal construction began in Britain (till 1827) 2 Dec 1755: Second Eddystone Lighthouse destroyed by fire
2	1756	15 May 1756: The Seven Years War with France (Pitt's trade war) begins Jun 1756: Black Hole of Calcutta – 146 Britons imprisoned, most die according to British sources
3	1757	1757: The foundation laid for the Empire of India 14 Mar 1757: Admiral Byng shot at Portsmouth for failing to relieve Minorca 23 Jun 1757: The Nawab of Bengal tries to expel the British, but is defeated at the battle of Plassey (Palashi, June 23) – the East India Company forces are led by Robert Clive
4	1758	1758: India stops being merely a commercial venture – England begins dominating it politically – The East India Company retains its monopoly although it ceased to trade
5	1759	1759: Wesley builds 356 Methodist chapels 15 Jan 1759: British Museum opens to the public in London 16 Oct 1759: Third Eddystone Lighthouse (John Smeaton's) completed
6	1760	1760: Carron Iron Works in operation in Scotland 5 May 1760: First use of hangman's drop 25 Oct 1760: George II dies – George III Hanover, his grandson, becomes king. The date conventionally marks the start of the so-called "first Industrial Revolution"
7	1761	16 Jan 1761: British capture Pondicherry, India from the French
8	1762	1762: Cigars introduced into Britain from Cuba
9	1763	1763: Treaty of Paris – gives back to France everything Pitt fought to obtain – (Newfoundland [fishing], Guadaloupe and Martininque [sugar], Dakar [gum]) – but English displaces French as the international language
10	1764	1764: Lloyd's Register of shipping first prepared 1764: Practice of numbering houses introduced to London 1764: James Hargeaves invents the Spinning Jenny (but destroyed 1768) 1764: Mozart produces his first symphony at age eight
11	1765	1765: The potato becomes the most popular food in Europe 22 Mar 1765: Stamp Act passed – imposed a tax on publications and legal documents in the American colonies (repealed the following year)
12	1766	1766: Start of 'composite' national records on rainfall in the UK 5 Dec 1766: Christie's auction house founded in London by James Christie
13	1767	1767: Newcomen's steam pumping engine perfected by James Watt
14	1768	9 Jan 1768: Philip Astley starts his circus in London 6 Dec 1768: The first edition of the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" published in Edinburgh by William Smellie
15	1769	1769: Arkwright invents water frame (textile production) 1769: Capt James Cook maps the coast of New Zealand 6 Sep 1769: David Garrick organises first Shakespeare festival at Stratford-upon-Avon
16	1770	1770: Clyde Trust created to convert the River Clyde, then an insignificant river, into a major thoroughfare for maritime communications 28 Apr 1770: Capt James Cook lands in Australia (Botany Bay) — Aug 21: formally claims Australia for Britain
17	1771	1771: Right to report Parliamentary debates established in England
18	1772	1772: First Travellers' Cheques issued by the London Credit Exchange Company 1772: "Morning Post" first published (until 1937) 14 May 1772: Judge Mansfield rules that there is no legal basis for slavery in England
19	1774	13 Sep 1774: Cook arrives on Easter Island
20	1775	19 Apr 1775: Battle of Lexington: first action in American War of Independence (1775–1783)
21	1776	1776: Somerset House in London becomes the repository of records of population 1776: Watt and Boulton produce their first commercial steam engine 4 Jul 1776: American Declaration of Independence 7 Sep 1776: First attack on a warship by a submarine – David Bushnell's "Turtle" attacked HMS Eagle in New York harbour. The attack was perhaps spectacular (a charge did detonate beneath the ship), but was nevertheless unsuccessful. "Turtle" was a one man affair, man-powered [Les Moore]
22	1777	1777: Samuel Miller of Southampton patents the circular saw.

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